Women in Finance: Fairly represented or work-in-progress?

Women in Finance: Fairly represented or work-in-progress?

The finance industry took a stance in several ways in recognition of International Women’s Day, which falls annually on March 8.

BMO Panel:

A panel of top female executives at the Bank of Montreal met last Thursday calling on the industry to take greater strides attracting and recruiting women into advisor roles, given the changing demographics.

Julie Barker-Merz, VP and COO of BMO Insurance and Charyl Galpin, co-head of BMO Nesbitt Burns, were among the panelists, touching upon their own experiences breaking through the glass ceiling beyond managerial roles.

According to the panel, females hesitant to enter the industry are deterred because of the highly competitive, male-dominated atmosphere with long hours and a lack of female mentors.

“As women, we all need our tribe, people we can call and get our support from,” said Barker-Merz, reported the Canadian Press. “As leaders, we have that responsibility to help start that and spark that flame.”

On a positive note, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) put a call out in January for proposals on how increase female representation on corporate boards, requesting all publicly-listed companies to disclose the number of women holding high-ranking positions and acting as board members; as well as how they search and select candidates. Results and recommendations are set to be reviewed in April. (continued.)

Industry news

The advisory industry is experiencing stable levels of profitability and continues to grow but at a rate slower than five years ago. This slowing will require changes in how firms are managed in order to build their bottom line